A new survey of 12,000 working women says you'd like a raise. I mean, duh. But no, here's the most troubling part: more of you could use a 10% raise than those of you who would rather have better health coverage, a pension, accessible child care or more time off combined. Depending on the opportunity costs and net present values and so forth, this could make total rational sense. But my fear is that, you know, it's more because so many years scraping by on salaries far lower than those of your male counterparts has rendered you all incapable of recognizing your rights and needs. A bank teller who completed the survey offered as much when she volunteered that another guy in her position had told her he made $5 more an hour than she did. Not that she could do anything about it! "We can get in trouble for discussing that with each other so I didn't say anything." So okay: you need a raise; women are notorious non-negotiators. But is there something else you really need? See, I was just in the UK, and they have this amazing concept there…

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…Called VACATION! Guardian staffers get seven weeks of it a year, plus some sort of month-long sabbatical every few years so they can write books without risking unemployment. That's like a George W. Bush vacation schedule! And they ALL FUCKING TAKE IT. What about you guys?